The present invention relates in general to quilted articles and, in particular, to a quilt construction and method of making the quilted articles.
Quilted articles, such as sleeping bags, jackets, bedspreads and the like, have, throughout history, been used for the warmth and comfort characteristics which are imparted to a user. While materials might vary, most quilted articles comprise a plurality of quilt encompassing materials and a filler material sandwiched between these encompassing materials which provides increased insulation and comfort. While virtually many materials can be used as quilt encompassing materials, such as cotton, synthetics, plastics, and the like, most quilted articles have filler material made of down, or natural or synthetic bulked fibers.
For the most part, constructions of quilted articles utilize a simple "sandwiching" technique in which the upper and lower surface fabrics are stitched together at regular intervals and filler material is placed between the stitching. This method is often used in summer weight bags and jackets which do not require extensive warmth properties. Obviously, the disadvantages of this type of quilt construction lies in the "coldspots" which are formed at stitching lines at which location the insulation thickness is reduced. For that reason a plain, single sewn-through construction is often not considered appropriate for sleeping bags although it is quite satisfactory for all but substantially cold weather clothing.
Warmer clothing or bags are often made through a construction and method in which baffles are interposed between the surface to enable the insulation to have a consistent thickness throughout the entire quilted article. Instead of reducing the cross-sectional width of the quilting at the points of stitching, small webs are inserted between the sandwiching surface materials to form geometrically shaped compartments of constant thickness. The webs or baffles, as they are often called, extend on the interior of the quilt from the lower surface to the upper surface and are either arranged in a box tube arrangement wherein the compartments are rectangularly shaped, or overlapping tube construction wherein the compartments are triangularly shaped.
In most conventional box tube constructions the webs are independent, individual material strips which are sewn at the top surface and the bottom surface to describe the compartment cavity. In the overlapping tube construction, a third piece of fabric is placed between the upper and lower surface and sewn first to one side and then to the other repetitively to form a series of triangular channels. While a quilted article can be so fabricated and possesses the features of improved insulation and restraint of quilt filler material in place, these two conventional constructions and methods involved therewith do have some drawbacks. These drawbacks include, usually, higher expense and fabricating requirements to work with a third baffling segment or a vast plurality of individual baffle elements. The time and trouble involved with proper location of each one of the baffle members and securement to the upper and lower surfaces is often prohibitive.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an alternative construction and method for constructing a quilted article with a minimum of quilt material components.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a construction and method for constructing a quilted article which facilitates the fabrication of a quilt through novel baffle attachment techniques while leaving the article still comfortable to use with substantial insulating characteristics.
Similarly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and construction for quilted article fabrication which more adequately distributes distortion or stress exerted on the quilted article to preserve heat insulating and comfort qualities of the article in a strongly constructed quilt arrangement.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification.